George Reinholt 1939-2013

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George Reinholt, 73, of Essington, one of daytime television's most popular stars in the 1960s and 1970s, died of cancer on Monday, Nov. 11, at Taylor Hospital, in Ridley Park.

The handsome, dark-haired actor was best known for the character Steven Frame, the tycoon role he created and played on NBC's Another World from 1968 to 1975. Frame was hard-headed, arrogant, selfish and opinionated.

The soap opera ran in the 3 to 3:30 p.m. time slot on weekdays starting on May 4, 1964, four years before Mr. Reinholt joined the cast, and for that half-hour millions of American women were glued to the set.

For four of the years he played Frame, Mr. Reinholt had the highest TV-Q rating in daytime television, according to television magazine polls at that time.

His TV relationship with Jacqueline Courtney, who played Alice, was one of the most-famous romantic pairings in daytime television. Along with Rachel Cory, played at various times by Robin Strasser and Victoria Wyndham, Mr. Reinholt and Courtney formed one of the most memorable love triangles in the history of soaps.

In a 1971 New York Times article, Gloria Paternostro wrote that she sought out Mr. Reinholt to see if he was as engaging as his TV character.

"I was not disappointed," she wrote. "In person, he is taller (a shade under 6 feet), handsomer and slimmer than the home screen suggests. He is also complex; friendly ... cooperative, though a trifle moody, confident, yet vulnerable."

At 30, the writer found him "intelligent, charming and responsive, with an almost startling integrity." He told her there were parallels between himself and his TV character.

"He's aggressive, but not to the point of hostility - until he's crossed. I'm like that - very much so," Mr. Reinholt said. "He's plagued by his dishonesty, and that I understand because I dislike myself terribly when I don't deal with myself honestly. I despise dishonesty - that and intolerance. These are the big fire alarms with me."

The real-life Mr. Reinholt admitted that he treated women "like toys," had never been in love, and was afraid to marry because of the inherent responsibility.

"I want a woman to do exactly as I tell her, and I realize that's not realistic," he told the Times.

After he left the program over creative differences with management, he starred for two years as Tony Lord on ABC's One Life to Live. He was never tapped for the commercials or movie roles he wanted, he told the Times.

In 1994, he appeared on the CBS television broadcast: 50 Years of Soaps: An All Star Celebration. He was introduced by fellow actors Peter Bergman of The Young and the Restless and Robin Strasser of Another World. The program marked his final appearance with Jacqueline Courtney.

Born in Philadelphia, Mr. Reinholt graduated from John Bartram High School in 1958. His parents were the late George Reinholt Sr. and Beatrice Kilpatrick Reinholt of South Philadelphia and Essington.

Mr. Reinholt's acting career began in his teens at the Hedgerow Theatre in Rose Valley where his mentors were Hedgerow theatre founder Jasper Deeter and acting teacher Rose Schulman.

In New York, he starred on Broadway as the young Nazi, Ernst Ludwig, in the musical Cabaret. The cast included Joel Grey, Lotte Lenya and Jill Haworth. Lenya, a Jew who fled Germany in 1935, signed a Cabaret poster with the inscription: "For Georgie Reinholt - the only Nazi I ever cared for. Love, Lenya."

Mr. Reinholt also appeared with Grey on Broadway in The Grand Tour. Mr. Reinholt had parts in George Bernard Shaw's Misalliance at the Sheridan Square Playhouse, the original production of Fortune and Men's Eyes at the Actor's Playhouse and an Off-Broadway production of Eugene Ionesco's The Bald Soprano.

Regional theatre credits included the Arena Stage in Washington, and the Pasadena Playhouse where he worked with friend and fellow Philadelphian Imogene Coca. His last performances were at the Wilma Theatre and the Delaware Theatre Company, Wilmington.

Beginning in 1988, he taught acting at Interboro High School and the Barnstormers Theater in Ridley Park. He also conducted classes in Philadelphia.

"Students reported that Mr. Reinholt had the ability to enable anyone who possessed basic communication skills to give a credible performance in a scene," said his friend and executrix Ruth Campbell.

An engaging story teller, Mr. Reinholt recently completed his memoirs, Rogue Actor. Mr. Reinholt also read the writings of Dr. Sigmund Freud and was an amateur expert on them.

Mr. Reinholt had no immediate survivors. Besides Campbell, he was close to his caretaker, Ann Marie Lincoln, and friend John Magee.

Services were private.

[Marvo301]

George Reinholt